Order… Awe… Advent

There’s a banner hanging in the lobby of a local high school that reads: Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. It bugs me. I suppose the message is well-intentioned, to remind our young adults that they each have dignity and worth. And they do, of course; we all do! What’s irksome to me is its reminder of our modern propensity to erase any sense of just order.

If/when we humans try to eliminate the concept of superiority, we seek to undermine the very character of Creation, which has an inherent order: God, angels (who have ranks!), humans, animals, plants, minerals. Not only the theologians, but all scientists could tell us about such categories and subcategories for as long as we’re willing to listen. Order exists. To deny it invites every kind of chaos. To own it helps us know reverence, piety, wonder, awe, respect, obedience, humility, and contentment. Which of those gifts should we be preparing to bring with us to the Christ child’s manger this year?